PRESS RELEASE
Immediate release
SEMINAR IN TULLAMORE TO EXAMINE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON FARMING
The National Rural Network, in association with the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine (DAFM), will be hosting a special seminar on the relationship between climate change and agriculture at the Tullamore Court Hotel, Tullamore, Co, Offaly on Thursday, 1 November 2018.
The seminar will include contributions from DAFM, Teagasc, leading researchers from NUI Maynooth, NUI Galway, the Irish Farmer’s Association and the Agricultural Consultants Association and Philip O' Brien, Officer at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Secretariat to the Climate Change Advisory Council, Ireland. Participants will hear how climate change is likely to affect Irish agriculture in years to come, what farmers could do to address the envisaged challenges. Details of the impact of the ongoing fodder crises will also be presented. Agricultural advisors, researchers and stakeholders in the agri-sector are invited to attend.
Speaking in advance of the seminar, agricultural consultant Phillip Farrelly said, “Climate change presents a real and definitive challenge to Irish agriculture, and it will take a coordinated effort by all stakeholders to mitigate the impact.”
“Compared to other European countries and the USA, agriculture plays a larger role in our economy and, therefore, the contribution of Green House Gases (GHG) from agriculture in Ireland appears to be relatively higher than the rest of Europe.
The Rural Development Plan 2014-2020 is addressing climate by funding actions that will mitigate the impacts of climate change. I’m just not sure this sentence is complete. Funding is being made available for energy efficiency in the farming sector and the promotion of climate friendly, low carbon agricultural practices that are aimed at reducing Greenhouse Gas emissions from agriculture. Farmer participation in the GLAS Scheme, Beef Data Genomics Programme (BDGP), Organic Farming Scheme (OFS), Knowledge Transfer (KT) Scheme, and the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS) are designed to help mitigate climate change. It is important that all stakeholders in Ireland’s agricultural sector combine their efforts to promote change and best practice thus encouraging farmers to adapt to technologies which will ultimately help reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions from the sector,” said Mr Farrelly.
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For more information contact James Claffey on 087 281 9741.
About the National Rural Network
The National Rural Network (NRN) is part of the Rural Development Programme (RDP)
2014-2020.
Managed by a consortium led by Irish Rural Link in partnership with The Wheel, NUI Galway and Philip Farrelly & Co., the overall aim of the NRN is to build and sustain a membership-based network that maximises the beneficial outcomes of the RDP.
Our ambition is to bring the RDP into the lives of as many people and communities as possible by communicating its key opportunities and outputs to all relevant stakeholders. Visit
www.nationalruralnetwork.ie for further information.
